Concordia loses a member of the family
Fr. Marc Gervais, S.J. (Society of Jesus), a celebrated film scholar and much-cherished Concordia professor for four decades, passed away March 25, 2012, at the René Goupil Jesuit Infirmary in Pickering, Ont. He was 82.
Whether rubbing shoulders with cinema nobility in Cannes, France, smoothly impressing on the tennis court, or wowing students in class with his extensive film knowledge, charm, humour and sense of style, Fr. Gervais confounded the image of a Jesuit priest.
He was born in Sherbrooke, Que., in 1929, the second child of Sylvia Mullins and Superior Court Justice Césaire Gervais. He was raised in a thoroughly bilingual household, where he was first introduced to the world of movies.
In 1950, Gervais graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola College, one of Concordia’s founding institutions. He then started the 13-year program to become a Jesuit and was ordained in 1963.
Along the way, he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Drama at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1960. He added “doctor” to his titles when he completed his PhD in film aesthetics at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1979.
Gervais joined Loyola College’s fledgling communications arts program, now the Department of Communication Studies, in 1967 and stayed until his 2003 retirement. He continued to teach film and religion at Concordia for the next several years.
It was in the 1960s, when Gervais honed his understanding of cinema, that he became a regular at the Cannes Film Festival. Indeed, he took part each May for nearly 40 years.
In his courses, which covered Alfred Hitchcock, silent-era Hollywood, 1920s Germany, John Ford and many others, Gervais brought a wealth of knowledge as well as his particular style and wit.
“Marc had a special way of communicating with students. He loved what he was doing, he loved being around students, and that came back to him in droves,” says Don Taddeo, BA 67, a former communication studies colleague who remained friends with Gervais. The two also served together on the Loyola Alumni Association board of directors.
“He was a pillar of the early communication arts program, and a humanist in every way,” Taddeo adds.
Fr. Gervais maintained at least one flaw, Taddeo recalls with a chuckle. “He wasn’t always on time in submitting his marks — because when they were due at the beginning of May, Marc was hanging out in Cannes.”
Although his film expertise was vast and he wrote a scholarly book on Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1973, Gervais held a special place for the late Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman.
“He is a figure in cinema who revealed to us that film can be a voice in culture, like any great art,” Gervais told Concordia’s Thursday Report in 1999, the year he published Ingmar Bergman: Magician and Prophet (McGill-Queen’s University Press).
Gervais played important roles outside the classroom as well. He helped establish the Lonergan University College (1975) and Loyola Jesuit Institute for Studies in International Peace (1988) at Concordia.
From 1981 to 1986, he was a member of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. He also consulted on several Catholic-themed films including Agnes of God (1985), The Mission (1986) and Black Robe (1991).
“The passing of Father Marc Gervais feels like losing a member of the family,” says Concordia President and Vice-Chancellor Frederick Lowy. “He touched the lives of so many Concordia students, fellow professors, alumni and others in a memorable way. He was also Concordia’s last Jesuit professor, which makes this loss even more poignant.”
Gervais is survived by his brother, P. André Gervais, L BA 64, former chair of Concordia’s Board of Governors, and his sister, Constance M. Moisan.
Anyone wishing to contribute to the Marc Gervais Prize in Communication Studies in Fr. Gervais’ memory may contact Maggie Borowiec at 514-848-2424, ext. 2093, or maggie.borowiec@concordia.ca.
Information for the services for Father Marc Gervais:
Wakes:
When: Wednesday, March 28 from 7 to 9 p.m., wake service: 8 p.m.
Where: Chapel at Manresa Retreat House, Pickering, Ont.
When: Thursday, March 29 from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m.
Where: Loyola Jesuit Hall and Conference Centre, Loyola Campus (7141 Sherbrooke St. W.), Concordia University, Montreal, Que.
Funeral Mass:
When: Friday, March 30 at 11 a.m.
Where: St. Ignatius of Loyola (4455 West Broadway, Montreal, Que.)
A reception will follow at the Loyola Jesuit Hall and Conference Centre, Loyola Campus
(7141 Sherbrooke St. W.), Concordia University, Montreal, Que.
Burial:
When: Saturday, March 31 at 2:30 p.m.
Where: Jesuit Cemetery, Guelph, Ontario
Concordia University lost two other members of the community this week: Father Stanley P. Drummond [URL for obituary] and Morrel Bachynski [URL for obituary].